Excellent dissertation of time and distance as well as relative potential kinetic energies......in other words ---- right on, dude!!!

 

I like that - should help with irate soccer moms who like to police entire neighborhoods......

 

I might be able to stop, but, what about the double trailer behind me?

 

Let me start by saying that I hate most people who NEEDLESSLY run red lights, it makes my blood boil. I admit there MIGHT someday be a time and place were you have to run the light, I'm not harping those people if that really happens.

However to the point of this post is the whole big brother thing which really stews me, I dislike the camara's because of the envasion of my right to be free.

My question is... do the covers (not the paint) work?

 

stopping for red lights has never been a problem for me, however there are several instances where intersections (espcially in suburben or rural areas) change and there's NOBODY going the other directions. Sitting through one light cycle is annoying, but do able, but certain streets have timed lights so that you have to stop at every intersection unless you drive that "magic speed" that allows you to hit nothing but green.

I'm not suggesting that running lights is the answer, it's more of a engineering problem. The technology exists to have lights on major streets remain green until a magnetic sensor picks up a vehicle on the cross street. I think more of these should have been built in.

 

Check out my avatar and tell me if it works, day or night.

 

Cost me a $106.00 on the Roosevelt Boulevard. They send you a picture of your vehicle and a close up of the tag. They also send you a web address so you can watch as you run the light.

 

Looks like I'll be the dissenter here, but after driving a half million or so miles in the US, then about the same amount of distance in Europe, I have to say of the things I'm much more appreciative of over here, the most significant is not having traffic laws (particularly speeding) enforced by an officer in a patrol car. I'd much rather have the computer make an assessment and mail me the fine. Every time. The cat and mouse game we play in the US is ridiculous.

 

First, my bias - I hate red light runners and have little sympathy for any person that deliberately runs a red light and gets caught/ticketed.

That said I must admit I do have concerns about the automated red light camera systems. Among them, and speaking in generalities as laws do vary quite a bit depending on location, would be:
* Unlike a ticket issued by a LEO there's frequently no, or very limited, ability to appeal the citation; the motorist is at the mercy of the system and the system is presumed right
* The system is frequently owned and operated by a private firm and that firm is paid a percentage of revenues generated by the system. This creates the potential for conflict between the desire to prevent the red light running and the desire for revenue.
* Cities are squeezed for revenue and are eager to pounce on any new source and hesitant to upset any existing sources even thought they may be suspect - like locating red light camera systems in high traffic intersections without high accident rates (where they aren't needed but make money) instead of in high accident rate intersections that have lower traffic (where they are needed but don't "pay off")

Here in Chicago Alderman Ed Burke recently complained about the potential for a Cobra Electronics device that warns motorists about the presence of red light camera systems to eat in to the almost $20 million annual revenue the city currently gets from such systems (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,3688665.story but registration probably required).

Relevant quotes from Ald. Burke:

Revenue from the $90 fines at camera-guarded intersections "is budgeted in our annual appropriation ordinance," the alderman said. "That is why all these cameras are being installed. ... The reality is that people blow through these intersections and they are going to be caught and they are going to be fined. It has become a big revenue source, absolutely."
"I don't think the [city's] goal is to allow the motorist to subvert the system that we are spending so much money on," Burke said.

Since the device merely alerts the driver to the presence of the camera systems and doesn't provide some magical ability to run red lights without detection I'm not sure how it's "subverting" anything. It would appear that Ald. Burke is objecting to the systems actually doing what they were ostensibly installed for - to stop drivers from running red lights. The reason the drivers stop - because they know it's the right thing to do or because some device alerts them they'll get caught if they don't - should be irrelevant. I do commend Ald. Burke for at least being honest and admitting that safety isn't really the first concern after all, that it's just another revenue play for the city.

 

I know many people that just throw a piece of tape over the first or last number/letter in San Diego. Works everytime.

 

Wouldn't that alone get you a ticket from any LEO who sees the modified plate ??

 

California State Route 99 at Entler Avenue. California State Route 99 at Estates Drive. California State Route 99 at Garner Lane. One going up at California State Route 99 at Oro Dam Boulevard (State Route 162). Those are the ones within fifteen miles of where I'm sitting.

Chico has the distinction of being the largest city (population about 84,000) in California which can only be reached by two lane roads. I'm sure there are others out in Antelope Valley, the Inland Empire, and on US 101 running down the Pacific coast.

 

I suppose that means that the local government is hoping people break the law. IMO the system is obviously crude, but the real question is: Do red light cameras really discourage red light runners?

question #2: Assuming you have no plate/wrong plate how do red light cameras adjust to this?

 

Seems the local laws on these is different in every jurisdiction. Read your local laws on these cameras.
I got one from Photo Radar for speeding. I read the local statue only to note that the person receiving the ticket in the mail could sign a form disputing the ticket saying it was not them driving. I did so and the ticket was dismissed..........all by mail.

 

does not ... yellow means caution, and an indication that there is about to be a red light. Yellow != stop.